


Never On Your Own

by sakabelle



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen, Niall-centric, Songwriting, narry friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakabelle/pseuds/sakabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being away on tour in America starts to take its toll on Niall. Frustrated and sad, he throws his feelings into songwriting. It's not until Harry helps him out that he realises being on tour might not be so lonely after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never On Your Own

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks to Jess for reading this over for me :) xx

Niall cradled his iPhone in between his shoulder and neck as he sat curled up in his bunk.

He had his laptop open in front of him and was lazily scrolling through his Facebook feed. His head was resting against the glass. He always opted for the bunk with a window – the stars and lights whizzing by often helped him sleep when jet lag was setting in.

“It was just lovely,” his mum's voice continued over the phone. “The whole room was decorated. They didn't have any idea.”

Niall nodded, even though Maura obviously couldn't see him. He looked out the window. The sky was dark – it was probably getting close to two or three in the morning at this point. The bus was rolling through somewhere in the states – the midwest, he thought. He wasn't completely sure. He just hopped on the bus and it took him wherever he needed to go. Paul would often tell him the name of the city he was in when they arrived.

“What time is it there?” he interrupted her.

She stopped short and Niall gulped, because he knew that she really hated when he did that. It didn't matter where in the world he was or how long they'd gone without a phonecall.

“Nearly ten in the morning,” she answered finally. “Just sitting outside with a mug of coffee.”

Niall frowned. “Shouldn't you be off to work, then?”

She laughed a little and Niall felt a bit of relief because that meant she wasn't going to scold him. “It's Saturday.”

“Oh.” 

He pouted a bit, looking out the window again. He rarely knew what day of the week it was – it wasn't like it was ever relevant.

“Anyway,” Maura continued after a couple of silent moments passed. “It was absolutely lovely. You should have seen the look on Greg's face.”

Niall nodded again, but Maura still couldn't see him. 

“Denise was so grateful. She told me later that she really felt she was a member of the family after that.”

“Yeh,” Niall said, taking a deep breath. Hearing about Greg and Denise bringing their son home from the hospital and the surprise party their family had set up for them was upsetting him more than it really ought.

“Can you imagine?” Maura asked him with a slight chuckle. “Only felt part of the family since that moment. It's silly isn't it? She's been part of the family ever since Greg met her – he brought her around any time he came to visit.”

Niall nodded. He remembered that. As well as he could anyway – his brother had met his sister-in-law just a couple months before Niall had gone off to try out for The X Factor. Just a few months before everything had changed for him.

Before, when he'd been able to hug his mum whenever he'd wanted. He felt less like a member of the family than Denise did these days. 

Niall swallowed and blinked a few times because he couldn't believe that he was starting to get teared up over a standard conversation with his mum.

“Niall?” Maura asked gently, because he hadn't said anything in a while.

“Right, yeah, sorry. Rubbish, Denise is part of the family,” he said quickly, trying to laugh it off.

“Niall,” Maura said softly, her voice filled with concern. Niall could picture her lips pressed together in a thin line and her eyes curving downwards.

“Yeah,” Niall said, swallowing his feelings down his throat because there was no way he was going to let himself become a weeping mess over something so minor. “Sorry Mum, gotta go, Harry's calling me. Probably wants to watch something, he's not allowed to start the next series of Breaking Bad without me.”

“You can phone here any time, you know that,” she said to him.

He knew that she knew he was full of shit. But that didn't stop him from trying to keep up the facade. “Yeah, I know.”

“I love you.”

Niall was biting the inside of his mouth now. “I love you too,” he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut. “I really gotta go, bye mum.”

His mum responded to him, but he didn't hear it because he was tapping the red button and tossing his phone off to the side. He clasped his hand over his face to try and muffle his choked out sobs. He hated crying – hated it more than anything. Especially when it was over something he couldn't do anything about.

He wasn't even sad about being on tour. He loved his job, he loved the lads and he loved the fans. The only thing he'd change about it was that it seemed like his other life at home was passing him by. 

And no matter how many times he told himself that it was a small price to pay for the life and career he wanted so much and worked so hard for, it still spilled over sometimes.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, widening them and trying to make his face seem less tear-stained.

He laid down, staring out the window at the stars above. Hopefully they'd do their job and help him get to sleep – he'd feel better in the morning.

* * *

Niall didn't have time to think about whether he felt better or not – he was awoken by Louis, who was screaming about how they were going to be late to their soundcheck.

It wasn't until after they'd sang three songs, answered the same run of the mill questions and taken a couple hundred pictures that Niall had time to even think about the conversation with his mum. And it came back to him while they were sitting backstage.

The venue was buzzing. It was right before the show that night, so all of the boys were hanging around the large catering area, along with some crew members.

Niall was sitting at a table with Harry and a couple of their security guards. He was laughing at some story Harry was telling about a fan who had followed him around while he'd taken an hour to himself that morning to go shopping. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he ignored it in favour of listening to the story.

It vibrated again, and he couldn't help but slip his hand into his jeans and pull it out. Glancing at it, he saw two text messages from his brother.

_Don't know what time it is where u are but missed u yesterday_

_here's a picture of theo and mum_

Niall frowned because that really wasn't something he wanted to deal with.

“Isn't that mad?” he heard Harry laugh while leaning back in his chair. “Her hand was literally grabbing my collar. I thought I was going to lose my shirt. It's just an old shirt – what does she need it for?”

Niall tried to smirk at Harry's story, but it only came out as a crooked half-smile. He looked down at his food. Suddenly it didn't seem as appetizing as the fresh baked bread his mum surely would have made for the party the other day.

“Yeh, mad,” Niall said with a shrug as he stood up. “Going to go mess around on guitar for a bit before we go on stage.”

Harry narrowed his eyebrows at him, but Niall ignored his friend's concerned look as he picked up his paper plate and threw it in the trash on his way to the bus.

* * *

The shows usually energized Niall, but that night he was still feeling down. Even his playful banter with the boys and the screams of the fans couldn't get him out of this funk he was in.

He pouted, not even caring to check twitter or Facebook like he usually did as soon as he was back on the bus. He couldn't care less about what was going on with his friends and family at home. It was just going to make him feel worse.

There was a small lounge area on the opposite side of the bus from the entertainment room. That was more than enough room for Niall as he plopped himself down on an oversized pillow on the floor, guitar in his lap and notebook sprawled out in front of him.

He was also determined to write more songs for the group's next album, and what better time than when he was feeling particularly down?

He played around with the chords a bit, trying to find something that suited his mood. He didn't find much, and just flopped between G and C staring down at the blank page in front of him as he played.

He hummed a little bit as he played, trying to find some words that fit. _“On the horizon,”_ he sang to himself. _“The moon is rising... back home...”_

He smirked to himself, leaning over to write that down in his book because he didn't think it was half bad. He sat hunched over for a bit, humming the words to himself while chewing on the end of his pen. _Don't forget where you belong_ was all he wrote down.

He sat back up, strumming the chords again. _“On the horizon,”_ he sang, leaning back a little bit. _“The moon is rising, back home...”_

He nodded his head a little, feelings slightly better before launching into the next bit. “Don't forget where you belong,” he sang, picking up the pace a little bit. _“Oh... don't forget where you belong, oh... don't forget where you belong... oh...”_

“Niall?” Harry asked, breaking Niall's concentration. “What're you doing?”

Niall shrugged, looking back down at his notebook. The page was still pretty much blank, save for the couple of lines he'd written on it in smudged ink. “Writing.”

“Can I help?” he asked, still standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

Niall shrugged again. “I suppose, yeah.”

Harry stepped over to where Niall was seated and knelt down beside him. He picked up the notebook and read the words to himself, mouthing them as he went along.

“It's not much,” Niall said, feeling a bit shy. Usually he was unable to contain his excitement about something he'd written – or even an idea he had for a song. This time it was different. The content was so personal, it wasn't just something he'd made up. It was something burning inside of him that he had to get out.

Harry just nodded a little as he kept staring at the paper. “Play it again,” he said.

Niall did, strumming the chords a few times before launching into it. _“On the horizon,”_ he sang, his voice raw on account of the show just an hour ago. _“The moon is rising...back home...”_

Harry nodded and watched as Niall sped up.

_“Don't forget where you belong,”_ Niall sang, closing his eyes. _“Oh... don't forget where you belong... oh...”_ He looked at Harry, because he didn't really have anything else.

“Keep playing,” Harry instructed, tapping his hand on his thigh. Niall nodded and continued as such.

_“Don't forget where you belong...”_ Harry sang. _“You're never alone...”_ he went on, and then shook his head. _“Don't forget where you belong, oh... if you ever feel alone... don't...”_

“Hey that's really good,” Niall grinned, still strumming the two chords. 

Harry just smiled. _“If you ever feel alone... don't... You're never on your own...”_

Niall just nodded along with Harry, watching him as he tapped his hand along with the music. Harry licked his lips and kept tapping, as though he was thinking. _“You are never on your own,”_ he sang again, changing the line slightly. His eyes softened as he looked at Niall. _“And the proof is in this song...”_

Niall bit his bottom lip a little bit as he kept playing, a smile spreading out on his face. Harry always had a way of knowing exactly how he was feeling. One final C chord and he let his hand fall limp. “You better write that down,” Niall said, giving Harry a playful shove.

Harry kept smiling softly as he nodded. “Yeah,” he said, picking up the pen and scribbling the lyrics down in Niall's book. When he was done, he looked back at Niall. “You up for a bit of Breaking Bad then?”

Niall just laughed. He knew that wasn't the real reason Harry had sought him out. They walked over to the entertainment room and Harry slung his arm around Niall's shoulder. Niall grinned, looking up at his friend. As long as they had each other, he knew he'd be okay.


End file.
